Illinois turns the page with hiring of Lovie Smith as football coach

After years of disappointment and nearly constant turmoil, Illinois football players were wary of believing the rumors and reports until their next head coach walked through the door of the Memorial Stadium meeting room.

When former Bears coach Lovie Smith was introduced by athletic director Josh Whitman on Monday morning, the players gave Smith a standing ovation and shut the door on past letdowns.

"We're going to have a couple basic goals," Smith said as his family sat nearby. "Get a degree while we're playing winning football. That shouldn't be asking too much. We want to get to a place where we're competing for Big Ten championships."

Smith, who coached the Bears to three division titles and one Super Bowl appearance from 2004 to 2012, was fired by the Buccaneers at the end of the 2015 season after two years on the job.

He signed a six-year, $21 million contract with Illinois that will pay him $2 million annually in 2016 and 2017, $3 million in 2018, $4 million in 2019 and $5 million in 2020 and 2021. The deal also includes incentives tied to academic and athletic performance.

His appointment will be presented to the board of trustees for approval on March 16.

Smith, Illinois' first African-American head football coach, said the job appealed to him because of his ability to connect with young men.

"During my time in Tampa," Smith said, "I had a chance to reflect on a lot of things — what I really liked about my life and what I've been able to do. One of them is being a teacher of young men and trying to mentor them and make them better people and hope they get something else along the way."

Smith said spring practice, originally scheduled to begin Friday, might be delayed until early April as he works quickly to assemble a coaching staff.

Whitman worked at lightning speed to bring Smith to Champaign. Through a common friend and colleague, former Illini coach and Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner, Whitman connected with Smith shortly after Whitman was named AD in mid-February. The two met at Smith's home in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, and each was impressed with the other.

On his first official day on the job Saturday, Whitman fired coach Bill Cubit, who had been promoted from interim status at the end of last season with a two-year contract. Smith flew to Champaign on Sunday.

Plenty has changed in the recruiting world since Smith last coached in college in 1995 as Ohio State's defensive backs coach, but he said he is prepared for the increased intensity.

"Lovie is going to be a great recruiter," Whitman said. "There's not a living room in America that isn't going to open its doors for Lovie Smith and his coaching staff."

Familiarity in Chicago should help, Smith said. Asked about starting a Twitter account, he joked, "I think it's a misnomer that I'm some old guy who doesn't know what's going on."

Illinois hasn't won more than four Big Ten games in a season since the 2007 Rose Bowl season. The program's reputation took a hit with allegations of player mistreatment against former coach Tim Beckman that ultimately led to his firing.

"Today we take a bold step forward and turn the page on what has been a challenging past," Whitman said.

Smith vowed the NFL wouldn't pull him away from Illinois, where he will launch a serious rebuilding project coming off a 5-7 (2-6 Big Ten) season.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said. "This is the start of the third quarter of my career. This is where I want to finish up my football career. We're here for the long haul."